The 3 Worst Ways to Deal with Your Sin
It has happened to all of us. At some point in your life, you commit a sin. Sometimes you identify it right away, and sometimes it becomes apparent to you later. Since we will all be confronted with sin at some point in our lives, the way you respond to it will make the difference in your walk with the Lord.
There is really only one right way to deal with sin, which I will share with you at the end. However, before we get there, let’s identify three things you should never do when you deal with your sin.
3 Worst Ways to Deal with Your Sin
1. Excuse It
When you sin, you should never make an excuse for your sin. Too many people do this. Instead of acknowledging their sin, they find a reason (excuse) for why they committed it. Looking for an excuse started with the first person who sinned, Adam. In Genesis, after eating fruit from the tree that God instructed them not to eat from, God asked Adam a direct question. Did you eat from the tree I told you not to eat from? Here was Adam’s response.
“The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it’” (Genesis 3:12).
God asked Adam a yes/no question, and Adam gave him a finger pointing excuse. Instead of admitting he ate it, he blamed someone else for his decision. It might look like he was blaming Eve. He was actually blaming God. He told God, if you had not given me this woman, I would not have eaten the fruit, so it’s your fault.
This was a terrible idea then, and it is still a terrible idea now. All too often, people make excuses for their sin. When you do that are refusing to take responsibility for your actions. Even if you had some outside influences, you are ultimately responsible for any decision you make.
2. Deflect It
Another bad way to deal with your sin is to deflect it. When you engage in the art of deflection, you attempt to turn the attention away from your sin to something or someone else. When you do this, rather than looking at what you have done, you look at what someone else has done. Deflection can happen in two ways.
The Log-and-Speck Deflector
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3, ESV).
People who do this completely ignore their own sin to focus attention on what someone else did. They miss the gravity of their sin because they are looking at someone else’s. You must realize all sin is personal. When God looks at your sin, he does not consider it in light of what other people have done. He only considers what you did. Deflection might make the deflector feel good in the moment, but it is no excuse for not recognizing your sin.
The I-Am-Not-as-Bad-as-They-Are Deflector
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get’” (Luke 18:10-12).
This type of deflector misses their sin altogether because they measure themselves by other people. Rather than judging themselves by God’s standard, they consider themselves according to someone else. They did something worse than me, so I am not that bad.
3. Conceal It
The last wrong method we must consider is concealing your sin. Sometimes, we try to cover it up.
One example of this from the Bible is David. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba, she became pregnant. His attempts to cover his tracks and hide his sin led to betrayal and murder. When people try to conceal their sin, it often leads to a slippery slope of one poor decision after another. Their concealing never solves the problem but only makes it worse.
One Common Thread among These Three
The one thing all these bad ways of dealing with sin have in common is they don’t result in forgiveness or restoration. The sin that you excuse, deflect, or conceal is the sin that will continue to follow you. Because you have not dealt with it properly, eventually your sin will catch up to you. It is only a matter of time.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” (Luke 12:2-3).
The Only Way You Should Ever Deal with Your Sin
When God confronts you with your sin, there is only one right response. When you recognize your sin, you must confess it. As Christians, what you may lose sight of is that sin hinders your fellowship with the Lord. You cannot live in sin and be in close communion with God at the same time. It is not possible. Sin puts a wall between you and your savior.
The sin that you don’t confess can affect you in other ways as well. It is a heavy burden to carry sin around with you. Listen to the words of David as he described the weight of his sin.
“When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.I said, ‘I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.’
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin”(Psalm 32:3-5).
When David hid his sin, it began to eat away at him inside. Noticed the words he used:
- Wasted away
- Groaning all day long
- Your hand heavy upon me
- Strength was sapped
He experienced all this simply because he refused to confess his sin. You will never be free from the sin you refuse to confess. It didn’t work for David and it won’t work for you either.
A Promise That Comes with Confession
The beautiful thing about confessing your sins is it comes with a promise.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
The promise we have is when we confess our sins before the Lord, he will forgive them. God never reveals sin for the sake of it. He reveals sin because he wants to forgive it. Because of this you have two choices. You can walk around burdened by the weight of your sins or you can confess them and find forgiveness and freedom.
The Challenge
So, where are you in relationship to your sin today? Are you making excuses or trying to deflect it? Maybe you are trying to hide it, hoping no one will find out so you can continue in your sinful activity. These are poor decisions which will not end well.
The best way to deal with sin is to confess it and turn away from it. Any other choice is a snare that will not bring deliverance for you. Hopefully, you will make the right choice because sin makes a lot of promises. But unfortunately it has no ability to keep them. It will leave you worse off than when you started. Rather than carrying around the weight of your sin, it is far better to let it go and live in the freedom that Jesus wants you to live in.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2a).
Related Resource: He Is The Rock At Your Bottom
You don’t need a rock bottom to change. On today's podcast, we explore a powerful reframe: what if rock bottom isn’t a place of shame or destruction, but a moment of surrender? A moment when you realize that Jesus is the Rock at the bottom, and that He’s been there all along. Listen to But Jesus Drank Wine on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
Originally published July 28, 2025.
